Exam threatened as strike looms in Kogi varsity

THE Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) at the Kogi State University (KSU) in Ayingba has threatened to go on strike if its members allowances are not paid.

The NASU chairman, Comrade Yusuf Audu, in an interview with CAMPUSLIFE, said the management and Governing Council wre lax about the demands despite a 2009 agreement.

The planned action would be total, Audu said, because that the management is not ready to implement the agreement.

Highlighting some of the demands, he said the management failed to pay 11 months arrears of staff minimum wage. Despite the cries by staff, he said, the school has not placed the non-teaching workers on pension till date. Audu said the planned strike would compel the management to address the issues permanently.

Calling on the government to wade into the crisis, Audu said members had exercised patience enough, adding that many things were considered before resolving to go on strike.

His words: “Unionism is about staff welfare and that is what we are fighting for. What we are asking management and government is what is contained in our 2009 agreement. They have refused to pay our hazard and responsibility allowances.”

He said while other universities were already paying the allowances, KSU refused. The union said despite the support giving to it by the national body, it refused to go on strike because the institution is state-owned. Audu said members had been terrified beyond patience.

He described the body as peace-loving, which always sought alternative way of resolving issues rather than resorting to industrial action.

Reacting, president of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), John Idachaba, urged the union to dialogue with the management.

He said there was no basis for confrontation between the two parties, adding that the students’ union would make move to reach out to the parties involved to find a way of resolving the matter.